Brandwatch Raises $6M to Expand Social Monitoring Services in US

March 21, 2012

Brandwatch, a social media monitoring platform, has raised $6 million to expand its service to the US and other areas internationally. Nauta Capital and existing investor the Gorkana Group participated in the company’s largest funding round to date.

Brandwatch’s platform analyzes and summarizes what people are saying on the web about a particular brand, using keywords as a reference. This allows brands to not only respond to the conversation, but also to better analyze trends, the competition and the effectivness of any given campaign.

As part of the deal, Carles Ferrer, General Partner at Nauta Capital, will join the company’s board, as will Al Sisto, a venture partner who will join as an observer.

“We have followed the space and the company very closely for a long period and believe it has true potential to lead the segment internationally,” Ferrer said. “Giles and the team have done a superb job building the strongest product and positioning the company as leader in several markets.”

The company competes to some extent against Radian 6 and Conversocial.

Founded in 2007, the company is based in Brighton, UK, with offices in Germany and New York. About 300 companies use the platform, including the likes of HSBC, DDB, Ipsos and Mediacom.

The company will use the funding to further its expansion into the US and EMEA, Latin America and South East Asia.

“We started as a small bunch of geeks that lived by the sea with a passion for technology and innovation,” said Giles Palmer, Founder and CEO of Brandwatch. “Today we are a bigger bunch with bigger aspirations, and now not everyone is a geek. The funding means we can focus on leading the market with innovative products and hire more of the right people to join our team and build on the small success we have already achieved.”